Energy & Minerals supplies the gas as feedstock, at below market price, under a long-term Gas Supply Agreement (valid upto 2025) with OMIFCO. Joint meetings and visits Economic cooperation between India and Oman is reviewed through the institutional mechanism of India-Oman Joint Commission Meeting (JCM). Its 9th session, held through a virtual platform on 19 October 2020, was cochaired by Qais bin Mohammed al Yousef, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion of the Sultanate of Oman and Hardeep Singh Puri, Indian Minister of State for Commerce and Industry. The meeting, not only reviewed the recent developments in trade and investment ties but also reaffirmed the commitment to expand the bilateral trade and encourage businesses to invest in each other’s country in order to realize untapped potential in the commercial and economic relationship2. Both sides, among other things, agreed to cooperate in areas of Agriculture & Food Security, Standards & Metrology, Tourism, Information Technology, Health & Pharmaceuticals, MSMEs, Space, Civil Aviation, Energy including Renewable Energy, Culture, Mining, and Higher Education. They also reviewed the progress of prospective Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) in the field of mining, standards and metrology, financial intelligence, cultural exchange, and information technology, and agreed to conclude them expeditiously. Both sides also agreed to expedite their internal procedures for signing and ratification of the protocol amending India-Oman Double Taxation Agreement and conclusion of the India-Oman Bilateral Investment Treaty. Traditionally, a meeting of India-Oman Joint Business Council (JBC) also takes place parallel to JCM and serves as a platform for interaction between captains of industry in India and Oman. In the JBC held on the same day, both countries agreed to expedite their internal procedures for signing and ratification of a protocol to amend the bilateral double taxation agreement and conclusion of an investment treaty. A statement issued after the meeting said: Both sides also agreed to expedite their internal procedures for signing and ratification of the protocol amending India-Oman Double Taxation Agreement and conclusion of the India-Oman Bilateral Investment Treaty.3
2
The Embassy of India in Oman: www.indemb-oman.gov.in
3
Press Trust of India. (2019, October 19) 183
